The title of the Bob Seger classic "Turn the Page" often seems to find its way into realms of life beyond just music, as everyone from politicians to therapists like to mention it as a way of focusing on the future.

For the beleaguered Battlefield baseball program, Jay Burkhart is hoping to do just that as the varsity team's new head coach.

Burkhart is set to take over the reins of a team that had made a name for itself not too long ago as a post-season powerhouse that qualified for the state tournament in the 2009 season on the twin backs of dominate pitching and clutch hitting.

This past season, however, internal fighting led to a sub-.500 season for the squad and the eventual ouster of its head coach, Matt Caudle. Accusations by parents of poor conduct on the part of Caudle, who had been a part of the the team since its 2005 inception, ultimately led the the school administration removing him from the baseball team and eventually posting a job application online as administrators sought a replacement coach.

The Times published two stories chronicling the infighting that led to Caudle's removal while the county government conducted its own investigation into the matter. Since then, neither Caudle, school or county officials have offered more details into the investigation. Caudle remains at Battlefield as a teacher and Burkhart already held an interest meeting for prospective players earlier this month.

During an interview this past Sunday, Burkhart presented himself as an outsider to the program. Listed as a health and physical education teacher, the native Kansan Burkhart is a 1996 graduate of George Mason University who coached baseball at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge as an assistant from 1998-2001 and as a head coach from 2002-2004. After moving with his family to Delaware for two years, the Burkharts came back to Prince William County in 2006, which is when he began teaching at Battlefield.

"I know a lot of the kids," said Burkhart when asked why he applied for the coaching job. "I just thought it was not an opportunity I couldn't pass up and resist."

Burkhart is planning a complete overhaul over the Battlefield team, starting with an overhaul of the entire coaching staff.

"Nobody's coming back from previous years. It's all just a fresh mix of guys that I've coached with," said the incoming coach. "I just couldn't be happier with what I have."

He declined to state on record who some of the new coaches are as their approval has yet to be finalized by the school administration, he said. However, he did state, "I almost want to say, the coaches coming here are well qualified and have been in the same position I've been in" as a coach.

According to Burkhart, 51 prospective players attended the interest meeting for the program. Given that there is only 18 spots to fill, "I know there's going to be a lot of competition, but that's what I want," he said.

Tryouts are set for Feb. 21 and the season schedule is due to be drawn up over the winter.

Rather than critique Caudle's coaching style, which he admittedly mentioned he knew little about, Burkhart said the approach he's bringing to the team is a "player-coach mentality."

Speaking about the reaction he received when discussing that concept during the interest meeting, he said, it "kind of shocked' him that the prospective players had "never heard of the player-coach cliche." To Burhart, the idea stresses hard-nose playing in which the dirtier the uniform, the better the result.

"I'm a big believer in respect. I'm kind of from the old-school," he said, emphasizing that he wants his players to respect the game itself so it will reward them.

He also mentioned that he wants to develop "team comradery" and give the players an opportunity to set their own goals. His style is a contrast with Caudle's in the emphasize that he puts on player development for college and winning a state title, two calling cards from Caudle's time at the helm.

"My realistic thing is, 'I want you to work hard for me at this point,'" said Burkhart. "And if we can pursue something down the line... then let's do it."

He added, "I'm no so much into the mind that they have to play college baseball. If they want to, that's great."

In that case, Burkhart stressed that he wants his players to select three or four colleges they may want to attend at the beginning of the season and then they'll work together on putting together a package for recruiters.

When it comes to victories, "What I do know is if you make this team, it's a commitment," he said. "We will exceed what they have done in the past."

He added, "I hate losing more than I enjoy winning. (But) I don't want to get caught up in, 'We're going to states.' I don't know the reality of what this season is going to look like."

Rather, Burkhart said, "It's not my goal." Instead, it's all about "what these kids come up with.

"Whatever they decide, I'll back them and we'll go from there," he said.